The Rise of Harmony
by A Derpy King Boo
Summary: In the distant future, things in Equestria have settled somewhat nicely. Twilight is busy ruling Equestria with her friends and couldn't be any more happier that her prized pupil, Luster Dawn, is following in her hoofsteps and giving friendship a try. Things have been peaceful since the defeat of Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Luster Dawn, Princess Twilight Sparkle's faithful and talented pupil, had moved to Ponyville in an attempt to learn more about the magic of friendship. After her conversation with Princess Twilight about how her friendships were still in good health after so much time, Luster decided that it could work out if she did at least give the concept a try.

While she was in Ponyville with Twilight, Luster met a few creatures that quickly befriended her. Giving Twilight a hug, Luster left her and her friends, joining with the new creatures that she found. Since that time, she has been happier and she really opened up her eyes up to friendship and the magic that it gives.

Her new friends have helped Luster find a place to live while staying in Ponyville and really helped her feel at home. It wasn't the same as when Luster lived in Canterlot, but this was a very good substitution, she thought.

It has been two weeks since she moved from Canterlot and began living her new life in Ponyville and this is where her story begins.

* * *

"...and that is where they reside today."

Luster smiled and closed the book she was reading: _The New Autobiography of Celestia and Luna, Former Rulers of Equestria. _She set it back on the shelf in her room and looked towards another book. This one was red and worn out, but one that Luster enjoyed reading to no end. This one was titled _Mythical Creatures and More: A Pony Guide to the Unknown._

"It's always fascinating to read about other types of creatures," Luster said out loud. Nopony was around her, but that didn't stop her from speaking her thoughts. She flipped the pages open to one where she had previously left off, "alrighty, now let's learn more about Manticores. I wonder what made the original Manticore angry in the first place when Princess Twilight and her friends ran into one."

She began to read through the page, gathering a bunch of important details about Manticores. Luster always loved to learn and always pushed herself hard to get the work that was assigned to her done and done correctly. She made it a mission to please Princess Twilight in everything she could lay her salmon pink colored hooves on; that is how she got to be her star pupil, after all.

While reading, Luster noticed the mail slot on her door shuffle. Mail started to come through the little flap, prompting her to get up and gather them up. Using her magic, she lifted up the mail and approached the table in the kitchen with them, setting them down one by one.

"Flyer," she read, "flyer, ooh, an ad about Pumpkin and Pound Cake's new desert." She stopped and dropped everything when she came to the last item. She could feel her heart racing and started to get slightly excited and worried at the same time. It was a letter from Princess Twilight and Luster jumped to one of two conclusions: Twilight was checking in on her or Twilight was angered by something she could have done.

Setting the letter down, Luster started to pace around the table briefly before getting a glass of water in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Okay, Luster," she told herself, "it's just a letter. How bad could this possibly be? I mean, it's not like you haven't talked to her before, right?" She glanced at the untouched letter and gulped nervously again. "But what if this letter is different? What if she is mad at me? I am trying my hardest at this whole friendship thing, right?"

Approaching the table once more, Luster picked up the letter and opened it on the right side. She pulled out the paper inside and unfolded it nicely, reading it at once.

"_Dear Luster Dawn,_" the letter began, prompting a giggle from Luster, "_I hope you are doing well with your studies. I cannot express how happy I really am to know that our conversation inspired you to pursue the magic of friendship. By now, I hope that you have settled yourself in Ponyville. If that is the case, may I recommend that you visit the School of Friendship? That is a great place to get started if you feel that you may end up being lost somewhere along the way. The headmare is a former student of mine as well and I feel that you and her would get along just nicely. As you know, my friends and I have managed to keep in contact and see each other as often as we can for a very long time. Friendship can grow stronger like that if we put in the effort that we think we can do and, when friendships grow stronger, Equestria becomes safer. I know that this is something that you are capable of doing._

"_Something else I wish to mention in this letter as well is that I would like for you to write me weekly responses of what you've learned. This is a great way for us to stay connected as well, plus I can always provide any assistance along the way if you feel you may need some. I was in your hooves at one point and know how hard things can get sometimes, so it's always better to have friends by your side to know that things can and will get better. I have sent to you a small capsule that you should use to send your letters to me. You should be getting that in the mail soon._

"_I eagerly await to read about what you have learned and cannot wait to see what you do with your new task. Whatever happens, always know that I am proud of you. I see a lot of myself in you, Luster, and I hope that what I see becomes reality. Your teacher, Princess Twilight Sparkle._"

Luster blushed a little when she read that last part. She felt flattered that her mentor wrote that she sees much of herself in her. She put the letter away for now and thought about heading to the School of Friendship, but decided against it for now. Right now, it was late and Luster thought that it would be best if she got some sleep. She knew where the school was and decided to follow Twilight's advice and head towards the school in the morning. Classes were done for the semester, so she figured that the headmare should have a bunch of time to see her.

Going back up to her room, Luster prepared herself for bed by grabbing her nightcap. She turned off the lights and laid down in her bed, looking out of the window and up at the moon. She always wondered how hard it must be to raise the sun and moon everyday and often wondered if Twilight was stronger than both Celestia and Luna combined. Twilight rose both sky assets on her own, while Celestia and Luna had to do their respective ones themselves, she thought.

Yawning, Luster shut her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep relatively quickly.

* * *

"_Luster Dawn!"_

_Luster looked around for the origin of the call. She noticed she was now outside and back home in Canterlot. Confused as to how she got here, she tried going to the main tower where Twilight would be, but found that she couldn't move from her current spot. She tried turning her head, but found that even that was becoming more of an impossible task now. She even tried to close her eyes and wish to be someplace else, but couldn't even manage to do that._

_An indigo colored cloud appeared in front of her and started to take the shape of a pony. Luster was curious as to what this was and actually was feeling more calm now. When the cloud finally cleared, Luster saw that the pony it had formed was Princess Luna._

"_Princess Luna?" Luster said. She was relieved to see somepony Twilight spoke a lot about, but wondered mostly why she was here._

"_Precisely, Luster Dawn," answered Luna._

"_What are you doing here?" Luster asked. "Is this a dream? I thought Princess Twilight was responsible for performing such a duty."_

"_She does not understand the Dream Realm like I do, Luster," explained Luna, "besides, I am in the process of transitioning and sharing this role with another pony soon."_

"_Is that so?"_

_Luna nodded, "Yes, but we don't have time to discuss that. I have come to you being the bearer of bad news."_

"_Bad news?" Luster repeated._

"_Something called the Basilisk has been spotted near the Silver Shoals area," she advised, "and neither my sister's magic nor my magic is strong enough to dispose of it properly. We fear that the Basilisk will multiply soon and disturb the balance across all of Equestria."_

"_Why haven't you alerted Twilight of this issue?" Luster thought._

"_Without Spike," replied Luna, "getting messages to Princess Twilight has become more of a challenge. I cannot seem to locate her dreams in the Dream Realm, but I did manage to find yours."_

"_How did you know who I was?"_

"_Princess Twilight speaks endlessly about you when she visits my sister and I," smiled Luna, "she hasn't done something like that in a very long time."_

_Luster smiled a bit and felt herself blush. She knew how proud she made Twilight, but to hear her talk about that pride to others made her feel special. Her smile quickly faded when she remembered the task that was given to her._

"_What is needed in order to defeat the Basilisk?" She asked Luna._

"_That is what we hope Princess Twilight can investigate," Luna responded, "neither my sister nor I know what to do since neither of us have ever seen a creature like this before."_

"_I promise I won't let you down, Princess Luna," Luster assured._

"_I had a feeling you'd say that," Luna smiled in response, disappearing slowly behind her indigo cloud once more._

_Knowing what she had to do now, all Luster could do was wait until she woke up._

* * *

When Luster finally woke, her first instincts were to check outside her window for the time of day. The moon was still risen, so she knew that Twilight probably hadn't been alerted as of yet. She began to gather a few things, then began embarking towards Canterlot on her own.

"What is a Basilisk anyway?" She said out loud.

She tried to ponder what one could look like and imagined a few different ideas – an altered manticore, a timberwolf that was more ferocious, and even a conjoined parasprite. Her images were practical, but acceptable thoughts nonetheless. Still, without an ideal image of what a Basilisk looked like, Luster made it a mission to reach Princess Twilight as quickly as she could. Without the capsule that Twilight promised her, Luster's next best thing was to teleport to Canterlot now, even if that meant Twilight was asleep.

"Here goes nothing," she sighed, planting her hooves firmly in the ground and focusing her magic to teleport to the castle in Canterlot.

With her aura surrounding her horn, Luster casted the spell and successfully teleported from her new home in Ponyville to just outside the castle in Canterlot. She briefly looked around for any guards and began an attempt to get inside the large, luxurious castle.

A few of the guard ponies were patrolling the area as Luster snuck herself from tree to tree, trying to stay out of sight. After evading a few guards, Luster found herself inside the castle. Using the tall hallways to her advantage, Luster casted a spell that would allow her to walk on the ceilings, far above any of the unicorn guards that were stationed inside the castle and out of sight of the grounded creatures as well. Tiptoeing through the halls on the ceiling, she began to quietly make her way towards the throne room.

_I have to make sure nopony sees me, _she thought, coming to a full stop when another guard showed themselves in an adjacent hallway.

The only sound that came from Luster were the sounds of her hoofsteps, but with them coming from the ceiling, she figured that the sound of them could pass off as somepony walking on the floor above them.

"Who's there?" Somepony asked, shining a light down the hallway Luster was in.

Luster gasped slightly, covered her mouth, and stopped in her tracks, hoping that the unicorn guard would not lift the light beam upwards closer to her. She shut her eyes and began thinking of what would happen if she got caught and, more importantly to her, what Twilight would think if she caught her doing such a thing. Frozen out of fear, Luster stood in her spot, shivering a bit.

"Mustn't've been anything," the guard sighed, "must be hearing things." He continued walking along his patrol route, leaving Luster behind.

_Oh thank Celestia, _she thought, sighing out of relief. She continued in her pursuits of the throne room, carefully planting her hooves with each step that she took.

After coming across a stairwell and proceeding upward through it, Luster found herself just outside of the throne room. She looked up and saw a griffon guard overlooking the area, the same one she saw when she and Twilight last spoke inside the throne room. She began thinking about how she would get inside without alerting the guard and took out any obvious maneuvers, such as simply opening the door with her magic. She thought about teleporting inside the throne room as well, but figured that that would result in too much noise being made.

_How am I going to get past this guard? _She wondered, biting her lip nervously.

She tapped her hoof instinctively while she was thinking, making some noise when it collided with the ceiling. She momentarily forgot about the consequences of doing such a thing until she grabbed the guard's attention.

"Hey!" They shouted. "Hey, you!"

Luster again froze and looked up, noticing that the guard was flying up towards her. Allowing him to get closer to her, Luster teleported at the last second inside the throne room and looked around, trying to find a place to hide for the time being.

The throne room was large, but mainly empty aside from the spires that lined up along the sides of the room. At the far end of this room were the two thrones, the larger one on the right being for Twilight and the one on the left being for her royal ambassador Spike. Luster noticed them but found that they were too far away to rush behind to hide herself, so she instead hid herself around one of the spires, hoping that the griffon guard wouldn't be able to find her. Hearing the doors open up completely, she soon put her hiding spot to the test.

"There's nowhere to go now," he insisted, "might as well come out of hiding now if you don't want to escalate any punishment."

_I didn't think of that, _Luster thought, looking down towards the ground, _how bad could this get if I evade any further?_

She heard the griffon approaching her location and started shaking once again when she heard the sounds come to a halt. She closed her eyes and held them tightly shut, waiting to be discovered.

"Found ya," he said, reaching out and holding her in place. When his vision adjusted, he immediately recognized who she was, "Wait, you're Twilight's student. Luster Dawn, right?"

Luster opened her eyes and nodded slowly, "Yeah, a-and I realize how bad this looks for me."

"Why are you sneaking around the castle this late at night anyway?" He asked.

"I have a message for Princess Twilight from Princess Luna," she answered, "and I thought that she would be in here, you know?"

"She does need her sleep too, you know," he boldly responded, "she's a pony like you."

"I-I know," replied Luster, "but I remember her telling me how she used to spend a lot of nights pacing around when she was nervous about something."

"She used to do that?" He questioned. He seemed puzzled by that statement.

Luster nodded, "Yeah, umm..." She tried remembering the name of the guard, but couldn't come up with anything. "What's your name again?"

"Gallus," he said, "I used to be a student of Twilight's, you know, just not here; at the School of Friendship."

"Could you help me reach Twilight?" Luster pondered. She had a feeling that this would not work, but trying wasn't a bad idea either.

Gallus rested a claw under his chin, looking back towards the doors. He knew he couldn't simply lead Luster to Twilight through guarded hallways at this time of night, so he thought of something else instead. He looked towards Luster and tapped the wall behind her.

"I can't bring you to Twilight," he admitted, "but I can get her to come here if your message is that important."

"Thank you, Gallus," Luster said, sighing out of relief.

"Just keep quiet and make sure you stay against this wall and out of sight," Gallus warned, "I'll be back with the princess as soon as I can."

Luster nodded, then did as she was told. She hid herself behind the spire once more and kept close to the wall, watching Gallus exit through the doors again, closing them behind him. Once he was outside the throne room and back inside the hallway, Gallus approached another guard and inquired where Twilight was at the moment.

"She's in the library, Gallus," they responded, "shall I tell her that you asked for her?"

"That's okay," Gallus replied, "but if you could keep watch over my post while I do that, it'll certainly help out greatly."

"Understood."

With somepony to watch over the vacated position now, Gallus started heading for the library. He quickly navigated himself there and opened the doors up once he found it. Inside was Princess Twilight, whom was sitting down comfortably reading another one of her vast collection of books. Noticing the door was opened, Twilight lowered down the book she was reading and glanced upward.

"Ah, Gallus," she smiled, "you're up late."

Gallus chuckled, "The same could be said for you, Your Majesty."

Twilight held her hoof up to Gallus and shook her head, "Please, that's not necessary. I appreciate that you take your role as royal guard very seriously, but I expect the others to be formal, not you. We have history together and other than being called Professor Twilight, I don't see you being so formal now with me."

"As you wish, Professor," Gallus joked.

Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes playfully, "What brings you here this late?"

"You have a, uhh, special visitor," Gallus answered.

"Special visitor?" Twilight repeated, tilting her head slightly. "This late at night?"

Gallus nodded, "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." He motioned for Twilight to follow him. "If you would, please."

Rising from her seat, Twilight obliged to Gallus' request and began following him through the hallways. Gallus made sure that Twilight was kept calm and that she closely followed him. When he arrived back at the doors to the throne room, he dismissed the covering guard and thanked them for keeping watch momentarily. Looking back, he made sure that nopony else was watching.

"They're inside the throne room?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," answered Gallus, "and like I said earlier, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

He opened the door to the throne room and allowed Twilight to enter the throne room first. With Twilight entering, the lights to the room had turned on and the doors shut behind her and Gallus. Moving forward, Gallus stopped slightly ahead of the first spire and motioned for Luster to come out now.

Coming out of the hiding spot, Luster blushed and waved at Twilight. She was just as nervous as she was when she last met Twilight and wondered how she would feel to know that she had just infiltrated the entire royal guard and found her way into the throne room without much trouble. Smiling happily, Twilight approached Luster and hugged her, just like Celestia used to do when they met each time.

"Luster," she beamed, "it's so good to see you. What brings you here this late at night? The sun isn't going to be raised for at least another hour or so."

"Well," Luster replied, "Princess Luna wanted me to deliver a message to you."

"She did?" Twilight asked, pulling her head away and looking down at Luster. She was confused as to why Luna would contact Luster instead of her. "She could have sent a scroll with an urgent notice on it."

"That's the thing," continued Luster, "Princess Luna said that it was urgent and she couldn't reach you in the Dream Realm. She said she found and recognized me from my dream and told me there to reach out to you immediately. Something about how it's been hard to reach you without Spike?"

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. She knew that without Spike, getting letters from the former rulers of Equestria was much more difficult now. She did miss the times when she could get her mail via dragon, but Spike was busy with his own life nowadays and she hasn't seen him as much as she would have liked.

"What was the message?" Twilight said.

"Apparently," Luster responded, "there are sightings of Basilisks in Silver Shoals and neither Princess Celestia's magic nor Princess Luna's magic is strong enough to keep them in check anymore. They fear that the Basilisk will grow and multiply if they are left unchecked. They need your help."

Twilight pondered over what was discussed with her. She tried to devise a plan on how to combat the Basilisk, especially if it was now stronger than Celestia and Luna. She looked to Luster, then smiled.

"Can I ask you something, Princess?" Luster whispered.

"You can ask me anything, Luster," Twilight answered.

"What exactly _is _a Basilisk?"

Twilight nodded and then teleported a mythical book to her from the library. She flipped it open to the page that contained the creature and held it in front of Luster, explaining what it was.

"A Basilisk is a terrifying creature," Twilight spoke, "it has the head and tail of a cobra, the eyes of a toad, a crest like a crown, and scaly skin covered with the hue of venomous animals. Legend has it that the Basilisk is so venomous that just one glance from it could be deadly and that everywhere it went, it left a trail of poison that would stay for months." She closed the book and sighed slightly, "If Celestia's and Luna's magic is not strong enough to handle them, then my magic would not be that much more of help."

"What are you saying?" Luster wondered.

"We need something stronger than my magic," Twilight stated, "and I think I know what may help."

"What's that?"

Opening another book that she had, Twilight showed Luster what she was referring to, "Long ago, when my friends and I first met, we had to defeat Nightmare Moon with something called the Elements of Harmony."

"I know," Luster smiled, "those were used against a bunch of different enemies – Discord, King Sombra, the Pony of Shadows – but I thought those were destroyed when King Sombra reappeared the second time."

"They did," Twilight said, "but not completely."

"Huh?"

"With the help of this pony," Twilight continued, turning the page to a picture of Star Swirl the Bearded, "I was able to take the fragments of the destroyed elements and make new ones and hide them somewhere in Equestria."

Luster cocked an eyebrow, "_Somewhere _in Equestria?"

"I know that you'll be able to find them, Luster," Twilight insisted, "especially with the help of your friends."

"But I thought that you said that there were six elements, Princess," Luster replied, "with myself included, there's only five in my group of friends."

Twilight winked, then brought Luster closer with her wing, "Trust me, Luster. You haven't met everypony yet."

Luster blushed, then looked down, "Do you really think I can do this?"

"I know you can do it," Twilight reiterated, raising Luster's head with her wing gently, "now go and do your mission."

"I won't let you down, Princess," Luster responded, using her magic to teleport her home.

Twilight looked up at the moon and used her magic to lower it and raise the sun, "I know you won't. There's much of myself that I see in you."

With the sun overlooking the entire land, the new future of Equestria was beginning to unfold. Twilight knew this and smiled as she watched Gallus leave the throne room.

"We could always handle it, you know," he said.

"I know," Twilight admitted, "but it's time for a new set of creatures to rise. This will only help defend Equestria even more."

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Previously...**_

With Luster Dawn now living in Ponyville and establishing herself in her new home slightly, she continued her efforts with studying while also putting a hoof forward in connecting with other ponies and creatures, making a good first step.

While she was asleep, she was visited in her dreams by Princess Luna and received a message to deliver to Princess Twilight. Cooperating with the former ruler of Equestria, Luster did just that and snuck her way into Canterlot Castle, running into Gallus along the way.

With the help of Gallus, Luster was able to deliver the message and as a result, was tasked upon finding the new shards of the Elements of Harmony, which were restored by Twilight and Star Swirl the Bearded. This is where the story continues...

* * *

Inside the throne room in the Canterlot Castle, Gallus was with Princess Twilight, wondering why she tasked Luster with finding and retrieving the Elements of Harmony. He approached her and politely questioned the decision.

"You do know that we could've done it ourselves, right?" He said.

Twilight turned and nodded, "I know, but I also think it's wise to introduce new bearers to the Elements. I know that her new group of friends are very special, even if there are only five of them. I have a feeling that they'll find that sixth friend without a doubt."

"Still," continued Gallus, "don't you think it would be wise if we sent somepony to Silver Shoals ourselves to handle the situation if Luster takes too long?"

Twilight held her hoof up towards Gallus, "While that is a wise idea, I'm going to advise against that. Have faith in them, Gallus. We both know how powerful magic can be sometimes."

Gallus nodded in response, "You're right about that, Twilight. Somehow, you're always right about this sort of thing."

"It's called experience, Gallus," Twilight said, "in due time, you'll come to see that too."

Gallus smirked, then bowed to Twilight before leaving the throne room. As for Twilight, she turned back around and watched the sunlight shine over everything in the land. She smiled and sighed contently.

_I know it's a difficult task, _she thought_, especially since I gave her no leads, but she's a smart enough pony to figure this out. It can't be that hard to find the Elements again. They may not be in the Tree of Harmony anymore, but they aren't that hard to find._

Twilight smiled again, then turned around and proceeded with her morning tasks.

* * *

Back in Ponyville, Luster began to find a book she could have that would steer her in the right direction to where the Elements of Harmony could be. She found something old that she had and tried looking in there. Grabbing the book with her magic, Luster flipped quickly through the pages and tried to find something that could be used.

"Come on, come _on_!" She sighed.

She flipped through the entire book and found nothing, tossing it behind her when it was no longer of use to her. She tried looking for something else and found an extra copy of Twilight's journal that she wrote in with her friends. Slowing her search down a bit, she thought that maybe something could be in there regarding the Elements.

"She did mention how she used to write things in this," Luster thought, "maybe something regarding the Elements is in here?"

She started flipping through the pages of the journal slowly and continued her search until she was disrupted by a knock coming from her door. She dropped the book on her bed then went down to see who was there. Encasing the door in her aura, Luster opened it up and revealed two of her friends.

"Hey, Luster!"

"Good morning, Luster!"

"Hey Orange," Luster smiled, "good morning, Summer,"

Orange Galette was a palish yellow colored Earth pony with an orange colored mane. He had cerulean colored eyes and a hamburger as a cutie mark. Even though he was just an Earth pony, he was skilled in making a patty for his friends. He always made it a mission to put a smile on their faces, especially when they were feeling down.

Summer Breeze was a cheerful kirin. She was tan all around her body and had a green mane and tail to accompany her red horn and lavender colored eyes. She was one of the kindest creatures Luster had ever met and really idolized how quickly Summer could get along with everypony, even those that she had just met.

Luster invited Orange and Summer inside and offered them some tea and coffee, although both politely declined the offer. The two noticed that Luster was shaking a little bit, nervous about something, so they both decided to help.

"Everything okay, Luster?" Orange asked.

"You seem like something is bothering you," added Summer.

Luster looked down and sighed a bit, "Princess Twilight has given me a new task."

"I thought you were tasked with learning about friendship," Summer said, "and I thought that she did that not too long ago."

"Well, yes," answered Luster, "but now she's given me something a bit bigger than that."

"Something bigger?" Orange repeated.

"Princess Twilight wants me to find the Elements of Harmony again," declared Luster, "but I don't know where to start looking."

Summer smiled and approached Luster, resting a hoof on her back gently, "Well, what do you know about them?"

Luster felt a little bit calmer upon feeling Summer's hoof on her back, "When Princess Twilight was younger, she found the Elements of Harmony with her friends in the old Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. They used them to defeat powerful enemies, but they lost them when King Sombra returned and attacked the Tree of Harmony. Apparently, Princess Twilight and Star Swirl the Bearded restored the Elements and hid them somewhere in Equestria, but she didn't tell me where she hid them."

Orange smirked, stepping forward, "What are the chances they are hidden in the castle again?"

Luster blinked a couple of times, "Honestly, I thought that myself, but that seems a little bit too obvious and on the nose, wouldn't you think?"

Orange shrugged, "My mother always told me that when I'm looking for something, it'll probably be in the last place we expect it to be, and it sounds like the castle might be the last place you expect them to be."

"They could also be in the Castle of Friendship too," Summer thought, "since Headmare Starlight is in charge of it."

"Both are places we should check regardless," Luster said, "where are Midnight and Grutar?"

"Knowing Midnight," Summer spoke, "she's probably asleep."

"And Grutar is probably in his room in the School of Friendship," finished Orange.

"Could you both get them while I try to talk to Headmare Starlight about letting us check the Castle of Friendship for the Elements?" Luster asked. "It would really help make this task easier."

"Of course," Orange and Summer answered.

"Great!" Luster beamed. "I'll meet you all shortly at the Castle of Friendship then."

"Right!"

* * *

At the Castle of Friendship, Luster politely knocked on the large and eloquent doors, hoping that Headmare Starlight was awake. She knocked three times and waited at the doorstep for a while, almost turning and leaving until she heard the doors open up.

"Good morning," Luster heard, turning around to see Headmare Starlight, "oh, you're Luster Dawn! Twilight speaks endlessly about you. What brings you here this morning?"

"Good morning, Headmare Star-"

Starlight giggled, interrupting Luster with her hoof, "It's okay, Luster. You don't have to address me with my title."

Luster smiled, "In that case, good morning, Starlight,"

"What can I do for you?" Starlight asked.

"Princess Twilight has tasked me with finding the Elements of Harmony again," Luster explained, "and I was hoping if you could allow my friends and I to maybe search the castle for them. I think they're either here or where they were originally when Princess Twilight found them all those years ago."

Starlight scratched her chin lightly with her hoof. "I'm thrilled to hear that you're so enthusiastic about finding the Elements again, but they're not here."

Luster looked down and folded her ears, "Are you sure?"

Starlight nodded, "Sorry about that, Luster,"

"It's okay, Starlight," Luster replied, turning to leave.

Starlight reached out and turned Luster around again, "However, I know somepony that may know where the Elements are."

Luster beamed delightfully, "Really?!"

Starlight giggled again, "Yeah, let me go get him. Please, come in."

"Thank you so much, Starlight," Luster smiled, entering inside the castle and watching as Starlight went to go fetch the pony she mentioned earlier.

Luster, stepping into the castle for only the second time in her life, looked down the main hallway that was attached to the foyer. She was astounded by the crystalized structure of the castle and really wondered how exactly this castle formed from the Tree of Harmony. Twilight told her how, but she wished that she could have seen it herself.

Waiting for only a few minutes, Luster saw Starlight return to her with the pony they were talking about earlier. The pony Starlight had brought was an orange colored unicorn with a robe around his body and glasses on his eyes. His mane was slightly unkept as well, but that didn't bother Luster; she was the same way sometimes herself. The unicorn smiled and introduced himself to Luster.

"Hello there," he politely spoke, "you must be Luster Dawn. I'm Sunburst, Starlight's husband and friend of Princess Twilight. Starlight here tells me that you're looking for the Elements of Harmony again, is that true?"

Luster nodded, "It is, Sunburst. Princess Twilight has tasked me with finding them for her and I figured that they were either here or where she found them."

"The Castle of the Two Sisters is a wise choice to search," Sunburst agreed, "plus, that's where we hid them."

"We?" Luster repeated.

"Sunburst used a spell to help Twilight and Star Swirl hide the Elements," Starlight admitted, "if anypony knows how to get to them, it's him."

"Really?" Luster beamed, excited to hear that.

"Nopony can break the seal unless it's myself, Twilight, or Star Swirl," Sunburst advised, "that way, it leaves the Elements as safe as possible until they are needed again."

"And now Princess Twilight needs them," Luster said, "would you mind guiding us to the Elements, Sunburst?"

Sunburst shook his head and smiled, "Not at all, Luster. I'd be happy to lead you to them if Twilight needs them."

"Thank you very much," Luster replied, bouncing up and down in place. She was feeling excited that her task was starting to come into fruition.

"I'll be back later, dear," Sunburst told Starlight, nuzzling her softly.

"Be careful, okay?" Starlight responded.

With that in mind, Luster and Sunburst left the castle and met the rest of Luster's friends. They all collected themselves and started making their way towards the Everfree Forest. Grutar and Midnight both appeared to be tired, but joined their friends nonetheless since they needed their help.

"So tell me what it is that we're going to get again?" Midnight asked.

Midnight Crawler was a charcoal colored griffon with indigo colored eyes. She was a mostly nocturnal creature, but learned to adjust to the daylight accordingly since the School of Friendship was a day time school. She was a tough creature, always speaking the truth, but she always told things in a nice and easy-to-understand way.

"We're going to retrieve the Elements of Harmony, Midnight," Luster answered.

"Yak best at finding," Grutar declared.

Grutar was a tough yak. Following the success that Yona had from learning at the School of Friendship, Grutar was sent by Prince Rutherford to learn. He was a yak that always cared about his friends and would do anything to protect them.

"These are artifacts that haven't been seen in a long time, Grutar," Luster advised, "finding them will be hard if we didn't have Sunburst here to help."

"Think nothing of it, Luster," Sunburst smiled, "always happy to help."

"There's still the matter of what will happen when we find them," Luster stated.

"What do you mean?" Orange asked.

"Well," continued Luster, "there are six Elements in existence – Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic – but there are only five of us, not including Sunburst."

"These things tend to work themselves out in the long run, Luster," Sunburst answered, "I've been around long enough to experience such a phenomenon. Let's find the Elements first, then we'll worry about working them."

Luster nodded, then led the brigade of creatures into the Everfree Forest alongside Sunburst. Sunburst looked over towards Luster and tried to stir up conversation again.

"You know," he began, "it's been a long time since I last journeyed through this forest."

"I can only imagine how it used to be," Luster said. She thought back to the times Twilight and her friends had to brave the forest in order to complete certain tasks of theirs.

"When the Tree of Harmony was still here," Sunburst continued, "it barely was able to contain the forest from overgrowing and getting out of control. Star Swirl helped a lot with keeping it in check since the Tree was attacked. Honestly, the forest never looked this good before."

"Yak want to know how pony keep forest good!" Grutar stated.

"The magic that has been left around the forest works on a consistent basis," Sunburst explained, "so it is always working to keep the forest in a natural state because if it wasn't," he used his magic on a small weed to our left, causing it to grow exponentially before our eyes, "it could easily take over the surrounding areas." Casting the spell again, Sunburst reversed everything he just did.

"What do the Elements of Harmony look like?" Midnight asked.

"From what Princess Twilight told me," Luster answered, "they were six gems encrusted in a necklace, except for the element of magic, which was part of a crown that Princess Twilight wore at one point. I'm not entirely sure what they look like now."

"You'll see, Luster," Sunburst smirked, continuing to walk through the forest.

The group of creatures reached a river and looked for a way to cross it. Luster, Sunburst, and Midnight could easily get across the river, but Grutar, Orange, and Summer, not so much. The water current was moving too fast to swim across as well. When Midnight looked to the right, she spotted a bridge that needed to be tied down.

"I think I got something," she told the others, flying across the river to tie the bridge down.

"Awesome thinking, Midnight!" Luster cheered.

When the bridge was tied down, Luster and the others took their turns crossing over the river. They did their best to make sure that there wasn't a ton of weight being placed on the bridge. With the unexpected challenge out of the way now, the group of creatures continued their way towards the Castle of the Two Sisters.

* * *

"This is the Castle of the Two Sisters," Sunburst announced, leading the creatures inside the decrepit castle.

The castle had certainly seen better days, but something like this that appeared abandoned would certainly make a little sense in hiding something here. When Sunburst led the creatures inside, he took them behind the main foyer and down a hallway towards an old library. At the end of the library was a lever, which Sunburst pulled, revealing a small passageway that led downward.

"The Elements are just down this stairwell," Sunburst exclaimed, "we don't show this to everypony, but with Princess Twilight requesting them, something drastic must be happening." They reached a door at the end, prompting Sunburst to insert his horn into a hole and cast a spell, opening the door.

"This is incredible," Summer gasped, "how is something like that possible?"

"When Princess Celestia still ruled in Canterlot, she used a similar spell to house the Elements of Harmony before trusting them with Princess Twilight," Sunburst continued, "and we used something similar when we hid them behind this door. Only myself, Twilight, and Star Swirl can unlock this door."

When the door opened up, a small box was revealed to the group of creatures. Sunburst levitated the box over to him and opened it up, showing the Elements of Harmony to everyone. Following that, they all began to depart back to Ponyville now that their task was complete.

While on their way back, Luster began wondering who could fill the void of the sixth element. Together, they only formed five, leaving one element out.

_Twilight said that I hadn't met everypony yet, _she thought,_ what could she mean by that?_

Exiting the decrepit castle, the group focused on returning home and braving the Everfree Forest and what it had to offer. Once again, Luster and Sunburst led the group of creatures through the forest. Sunburst had started to cast a light spell since the sun was starting to go down, creating a small area of light around everyone.

Suddenly, Luster and Sunburst both stopped in their tracks. Everyone else followed suit and wondered why they had stopped.

"Why pony stop?" Grutar questioned, frowning a bit.

"Shh," insisted Sunburst, "I think there's a group of timberwolves passing by."

"Timberwolves?" Midnight repeated. "What are they?"

"They're sinister creatures who prey on whomever dares to brave this forest," Orange alerted, "if there is a group of them, that only makes them more dangerous."

"Right," agreed Sunburst, "and right now, it would be a wise idea if we stood quiet. As long as they simply pass through, there's nothing to worry about."

Luster and the rest of the group agreed with Sunburst and stood quiet while they waited for the group of timberwolves to pass. Looking ahead, Luster spotted a pair of green eyes coming from behind one of the bushes. She felt her breathing grow quicker and tried her hardest to keep herself calm; she needed to, lest she alert the timberwolves. Another set of green eyes revealed themselves to Luster and the group, which made Luster panic slightly more. She had never seen a timberwolf before and only knew of their presence when Twilight told stories to her about how her and her friends met a few face-to-face before. Luster bit her lip, shut her eyes tight, and hoped that the timberwolves would simply move on quickly.

_Please get out of here, _she thought_, leave us alone please!_

She kept waiting for a clue, a cue, or something to let her know that it was safe to open up her eyes again, but nothing came. Sunburst, watching the timberwolves, raised his hoof up to the rest of the group and silently let them know that it was not yet safe to proceed. Not being able to see it, Luster continued to tense up and stay quiet, assuming that more timberwolves had shown up.

_Why must timberwolves rear their ugly heads now to us?_ Luster asked herself.

With eyes still shut, Luster gulped as she heard some growling. She had folded her ears now, hoping that the sounds would drown out now, but that didn't help. She felt herself slowly start to lose control of her panicking and tried her hardest to stay quiet, but that was becoming more of a monumental task now. Noticing Luster having a hard time coping with the situation, Summer quietly moved closer towards her and rested one of her hooves along Luster's back, rubbing it softly. Luster was surprised by the sudden touch of a hoof, opened her eyes, and looked back to see Summer smiling at her playfully. Summer took her hoof off of Luster, held it to her mouth, then went back to rubbing her back. Luster smiled softly and nodded, her way of saying her thanks to Summer for helping cope with her spiraling emotions.

The growling started to fade a bit, but Sunburst felt that it still was not safe yet to move forward. He turned to the group and shook his head, holding up his hoof again to them. When the growling had faded completely, Sunburst put down his hoof and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia," he sighed, "that was certainly close."

"Thank you, Summer," Luster smiled, "you have no idea how much that helped me."

Summer nodded slightly, "Think nothing of it. Sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness. That little bit could be the difference between keeping things in check or not."

"It certainly made a huge difference," agreed Luster, "I don't know what would have happened if I mustered a sound by accident."

"Let's get out of this forest before anything else shows up," Midnight suggested.

"Good idea," agreed Orange.

With that said, the group of creatures continued to exit their trek in exiting the forest.

* * *

When they finally returned to the Castle of Friendship, Sunburst and Starlight had invited Luster and her friends inside for some tea. Starlight was insistent on them staying for a while and, with a round of nods, Luster and the others decided to take Starlight up on her offer.

Delighted, Starlight guided the group of creatures inside the castle and took them into the room that housed a giant crystallized table. Surrounding the table were seven crystal chairs, all but one of them featuring a symbol towards the top of them. For Luster, she immediately recognized one of the symbols as the cutie mark of her mentor and proceeded to sit in that chair.

Orange made his way over to the crystal chair that had a trio of balloons on them. He admired how cheerful they looked and reminded him of good times he experienced as a younger colt. As for Summer, she made her way towards a chair that had a trio of pink butterflies on them, smiling at them and adoring how cute they looked together. Midnight spotted a chair with a trio of apples on them and took a seat there, feeling hungry by spotting them. Grutar spotted a chair with a rainbow colored lightning bolt and stood up next to that, saying that the lightning bolt is a symbol of strength and he was a strong yak. Starlight took a seat in the seat that had three diamonds on it, while Sunburst went to go fetch the tea for everyone. Starlight took control of the box that they had all found and rested it on the armrest next to her. When Sunburst exited the room, Starlight opened up the box and levitated the shards of the Elements of Harmony in front of her, on top of the table.

"I knew you'd find these with Sunburst's help," she praised, "you remind me a lot of Twilight, Luster."

"I don't think we would've been able to do this without Sunburst's help, Starlight," Luster responded. She knew that was a fact, remembering what Sunburst told her about how only him, Star Swirl, and Twilight could access them.

"These are some of the most important artifacts in the history of Equestria," Starlight explained.

"Oh, and _trust_ me, they aren't a pleasant thing to feel."

Luster cocked an eyebrow and looked around, as did everyone else. Starlight simply rolled her eyes and looked upward.

"And a hello to you too, Discord," she said, a bit annoyed.

Discord, the Lord of Chaos himself, appeared out of thin air and glided down next to Starlight, looking at the Elements of Harmony she was levitating around the table. He reached out and grabbed an azure colored one, smirking.

"What do you mean?" Summer asked.

"Allow me to explain," Luster butted in, looking at the draconequus, then at the elements, "a long time ago, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled over Equestria, they faced this creature and-"

"_Excuse_ me!" Discord shouted. He was clearly hurt by what Luster said.

"Faced _Discord_," Luster corrected, "and defeated him. Then, when he returned, Princess Twilight and her friends were forced to face him and, using the magic of friendship, they were able to defeat him again. He was reformed by one of Twilight's friends and uses his magic for good now."

"Fluttershy was the pony who really reformed me," Discord added, snapping his fingers and creating a hole in space, pulling out Fluttershy briefly before nuzzling her and closing the hole, "and she's the reason why we're still here. Now, about the Elements of Harmony, the rainbows that shoot out from these things are devastatingly powerful. Just ask Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis. I'm sure their reactions would be...stone cold."

Starlight giggled lightly, "Good one, Discord. But what I really wanted to show these creatures was this."

Using her magic, Starlight casted a spell on the Elements of Harmony and watched as the magic transferred from the elements to the table they were all sitting around. The table lit up and revealed a map to Luster and her friends, showing basically the entirety of Equestria and a little bit beyond in every direction. Luster was in awe, then noticed that her cutie mark was hovering over the Silver Shoals area.

"How?!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, _this_ should be good," Discord smirked, grabbing a box of popcorn.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Previously...**_

After returning home to Ponyville, Luster Dawn immediately began a search for the Elements of Harmony. Having her friends help her out, they met at the Castle of Friendship with Sunburst before setting out towards the Everfree Forest to find the elements.

Upon retrieving them from the Castle of the Two Sisters, trouble rose for the group of creatures as a pack of timberwolves passed by, threatening the progress that Luster and the group were making. Being shown a little kindness, Luster managed to hold things together, returning back to the Castle of Friendship with the Elements of Harmony.

Casting a spell on the elements, Starlight revealed a map to Luster and everyone else, including Discord, who had shown up out of thin air. Now, with her cutie mark hovering around the area of Silver Shoals on the map, Luster is shocked and confused, perplexed as to what it all means. This is where the story continues...

* * *

Luster Dawn was baffled at the sight of her cutie mark hovering around Silver Shoals. She felt something tickling her flank and turned to see that her actual cutie mark was glowing. She blinked a few times, then looked back at the map, then at Starlight.

"What's happening?" She wondered. "How is this possible?"

"Oh, it's been _years _since I've last seen this thing," Discord chimed, "the greatest times came from this table, wouldn't you say so, Starlight?"

Starlight nodded, "Some of them, yes."

"The whole time travel thing was certainly awesome," smirked Discord, "watching you and Twilight fight it out on top of a cloud while the past version of-"

"Oh-kay!" Starlight interrupted, raising her hoof and shutting Discord's mouth. "Nopony needs to hear about that. Besides, Luster asked a question and I think it's only fair that we offer her an answer." She pulled her hoof back from Discord.

"Well that's certainly _boring_," simmered Discord, snapping his fingers, "I must say, things are certainly arising if this is back in town."

"Apparently," agreed Starlight, looking towards Luster, "this is a map of Equestria, obviously. It originated from the Tree of Harmony a little bit after this castle appeared, at least from what Twilight has told me."

"That would be correct," informed Discord, "I was there."

"This map works slightly different from any regular map," continued Starlight, "it locates friendship problems anywhere within its boundaries and let's us know who would be best to tackle those problems. Since only your cutie mark is-"

While Starlight was explaining how the map worked, Orange's cutie mark started to shine and hover with Luster's around the Silver Shoals area. Starlight nodded, then looked to Discord peculiarly.

"Years of being off shows that things are slower when they're restarted," Discord smirked, "I should know since I was a stone."

Starlight cocked an eyebrow, "Aaanyway, it appears that both you and Orange are needed in Silver Shoals. I'm certain that map really needs all of you, but since the rest of you don't have cutie marks, there's no way to really-"

Again, Starlight was interrupted by the map. Now, Summer's horn was glowing red, and an image of her face was hovering with Orange's and Luster's cutie mark. Eventually, a silhouette of Midnight's face and Grutar's face joined in the circling symbols, as well as a sixth symbol. The sixth was a symbol that had a colored moon and sky around it. Luster immediately noticed the out-of-place symbol and scratched her chin lightly.

"What's that one?" She asked.

Starlight took a closer inspection of it and cocked an eyebrow. She appeared to be just as confused as Luster was.

"A better question would be _whose _is that?" Starlight said in rebuttal.

Discord laughed, "Ooh, this _is _turning out to be quite the page turner, now isn't it?!" He snapped a glass of chocolate milk which was filled from the top down.

Luster looked to Discord now, "Do you know who that belongs to?"

Discord smirked, taking out a set of glasses and putting them on, looking closer at the unknown symbol, "Looks to me like it is a cutie mark, but who wouldn't have guessed that?"

"Obviously," Luster replied, rolling her eyes slightly.

Discord noticed this and played off of it, "Well, you asked if I knew who that belonged to. It _obviously _belongs to somepony else that's _clearly _not here."

"I knew that already," Luster retorted.

"I think she meant if you knew the pony it _belonged _to," Midnight added.

"Well the answer to that is a clear and heavy _noooooo~_," answered Discord finally, taking his eyes out and rolling them around the table.

Luster sighed, wondering who's cutie mark that was. She shook her head, then focused on the task at hoof, looking back to the floating Elements of Harmony.

"There are six elements," she spoke aloud, "Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic...each element needs the others in order to work properly. As far as I know, nopony has been able to command more than one element at a time, aside from-"

"Tell _that _to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," Discord interrupted, showing a small image of the former rulers of Equestria wielding the Elements of Harmony on their own.

"I was _getting _to that," Luster retorted, smirking slightly at Discord, "aside from them, nopony has been able to wield more than one element at a time. I wonder if that other pony is connected to this task somehow."

"Who knows?" Orange responded. "But by the looks, and, uhh," he looked towards his flank, "_feels _of it, I think it would be best if we headed there now, wouldn't you all say?"

"That would be the smart thing to do," Starlight advised, "take the Elements of Harmony with you. My guess is that's why Twilight asked for you to retrieve them."

"We'll take good care of them, Starlight," Luster promised, accepting the elements from her.

"Good luck," finished Starlight.

With the Elements of Harmony in their possession now, Luster and the group started to follow the map towards their destination: Silver Shoals.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Silver Shoals, a unicorn was studying the starry night sky on a nearby hill using a telescope they had brought with them. Looking through the telescope, they were drawing some of the constellations on a nearby map. Adjusting the telescope's trajectory, they spotted something unusual approaching the small town down below, prompting them to pull themselves away from the telescope.

"What's going on down there?" They wondered.

Curious to know what was going on, they put the telescope away with their magic and placed it in their saddlebag along with the map they were working on. They made their way down the hill and noticed two alicorns trying their hardest to combat the mystical creature that appeared to be slowly growing over time.

"Oh no!" They shouted, now rushing down into the small community to offer her help.

"Miss," someone shouted, "get to cover!"

The unicorn heard the warning, but still pressed forward, readying her magic in case something bad were to happen. She turned a corner and found herself on the main pathway, watching the two alicorns fly around, firing their magic at the creature that was starting to block the moonlight. She shot a beam of magic at the creature, earning the attention of one of the alicorns.

"Get back!" They shouted.

"No," the unicorn defiantly responded, "the more help you have, the better!"

The unicorn shot some more magic at the creature and tried to blast it backwards. The alicorn that warned her flew down to the ground and stood in front of the unicorn, towering over her, easily doubling the height of the unicorn. The unicorn stood tall and looked up at the alicorn, letting her know that she wasn't going anywhere.

"We don't want anypony to get hurt," the alicorn said, "it's already bad enough that this thing is here. Please just get to safety. My sister and I can take this thing ourselves."

The unicorn shook her head, "No can do, Princess Celestia. I can take care of myself and I'm more worried about these ponies than myself. I'm willing to put myself in danger if it means defending these ponies."

Princess Celestia bit her lip. She secretly knew that having more help could be a huge difference, but she was also still thinking like a ruler and wanted to make sure that every subject was safe. Unfortunately, she could not change the mind of the little unicorn that she was standing before and sighed.

"It's very generous of you to offer your help," she said, "but please get to safety."

"It'll be even more generous if you accepted my help," the unicorn responded, blasting a small bit of the creature away from Princess Celestia, "Princess."

Princess Celestia cocked an eyebrow, then nodded, "Alright, if you can handle the lower half, my sister and I will take care of the upper half. Do you think you'll be okay?"

"I will do my best, Your Highness," the unicorn answered.

"What's your name, little filly?" Princess Celestia asked, flapping her wings a bit.

"Astral," the unicorn stated, "Astral Flare."

Astral moved forward and charged up another magical attack from her horn while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna continued their assault from up top. Astral moved in quick patterns, jumping from one side to the other as she shot the magic towards the creature. As for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they kept flying around, making sure not to make eye contact with the creature. They knew the risks, but Astral did not.

"Try not to make eye contact with it, Astral!" Princess Celestia called, firing off another beam of magic into the creature's left eye.

"The gaze of this creature is dangerous," added Princess Luna.

"What exactly is this thing?" Astral responded, jumping out of the way of the creature's tail.

"This is a Basilisk," Princess Celestia advised, "and they're dangerous creatures to mettle with."

"What's one doing here anyway?" Astral continued, casting a spell that shielded her from another one of the creature's tail whips.

"We are unsure," Princess Celestia admitted, "but more help should be arriving soon."

Not even Princess Celestia knew just how long it would be until the help were to arrive. She was hoping that it would be sooner rather than later, however, as the Basilisk continued to slowly gain power and grow in size.

The fighting continued for quite some time, magic beams and spells going flying all over the place from the three ponies. The Basilisk, adjusting to the seemingly chaotic attack pattern, swung its tail and hit Princess Celestia hard, smacking her out of the sky and down towards the ground. Astral noticed the falling alicorn and acted quickly, rushing over towards where Princess Celestia was going to land and focusing her magic in an attempt to catch her.

With just enough time to spare, Astral caught Princess Celestia mainly with her magic, though she was positioned under her for support, being hit by her body. Astral collapsed from the excess weight, but managed to keep Princess Celestia from hitting the ground. Princess Luna saw this from above, but forced herself to keep fighting the Basilisk, afraid of what it could do if it was left unchecked now. Fighting it on her own though was now an extremely difficult task.

"Little help, please!" Princess Luna called, flying out of the way of another tail whip from the Basilisk, barely managing to do so.

Astral tried lifting herself up, but felt dazed as well. She tried using her magic to lift Princess Celestia off of her, but found that she was too tired to do such a thing right now. She was helpless, since Princess Celestia was knocked unconscious from the hit and could not move. She tried calling back to Princess Luna as well, but couldn't do that since her voice was muffled slightly, thanks to Princess Celestia and Astral's own positioning underneath her.

Suddenly, the Basilisk swung at Princess Luna with its tail again. The tail, coming from above Princess Luna now, forced her out of the sky and down towards the ground. She let out a painful yelp, colliding with the ground nearby Astral and Princess Celestia. Astral looked up towards the Basilisk again and tried getting up from underneath Princess Celestia, but to no avail.

The Basilisk, having defeated the ponies in its way, started moving closer towards the town, leaving the ponies in the ground. Astral called over to Princess Luna to see how she was doing.

"Princess," she called, "are you okay?"

"The Basilisk is growing and nearing the town," Princess Luna responded, "I'm fine, but I fear that the ponies in the town won't be in a few moments."

"What can we do?" Astral wondered.

"How's some help sound right about now?"

Astral looked up and saw a unicorn towering over her. The unicorn held out her hoof and offered to help Astral up. Astral looked at the hoof, then at Princess Celestia's limp body.

"Who are you?" Astral asked, taking the unicorn's hoof and pulling herself out from her current predicament.

"Luster Dawn," they replied, "and we're here to stop that Basilisk."

Luster turned around and revealed her group of friends to Astral and the collapsed princesses. With Astral by their side now, Luster focused her attention on the large Basilisk that was nearing the town. She turned to Astral and asked what had happened.

"That thing," she sighed, "it was too strong for them. I saw it from up on that hill and came down to help, but my magic in addition to the magic the princesses had was still not good enough. I'm not sure what can stop that thing now."

"These can," Luster responded, pulling out the Elements of Harmony.

Astral stared at them. "What are those?"

"These are the Elements of Harmony," Luster stated, "and they're the key to stopping that Basilisk."

"How do they work again?" Orange asked.

Luster blinked a few times, looking at the floating elements in front of her, "I, uhh, I'm not too sure...Princess Twilight never explained that to me."

Hearing the conversation, Princess Luna struggled to stand on her own hooves. She planted a couple of them onto the ground, trying to force herself up, only to end up falling back down. Luster noticed this and immediately ran over to check on the fallen princess.

"Are you okay?" Luster wondered, noticing the wings and horn that Luna had. "Princess Luna?"

"Forget about me right now," Princess Luna replied, coughing a bit, "you need to put an end to that Basilisk before it gets to the town."

"But how do we activate the Elements of Harmony?" Luster protested.

"When the time comes," Princess Luna began to answer before collapsing completely on the ground. She had become unconscious like Princess Celestia.

This left Luster flustered, slightly panicking again. She was on her own now with her friends against a Basilisk that was slowly growing in size and nearing an invasion of the nearby town. She looked back to her friends and wondered what they could do now.

"Yak tough!" Grutar declared. "Yak take creature on."

"Yeah," added Midnight, "I'm sure if we combined our efforts, we can totally beat that thing up!"

"Where do we begin?" Summer wondered.

Luster looked back towards the Basilisk and nodded, "I have a plan."

* * *

With the Basilisk slowly approaching its destination, Luster and the others charged in, preparing themselves for a fight. Astral and Luster prepared to fire a joint magic beam at the creature while Grutar and Orange used their strengths on the ground. Meanwhile, Summer allowed her anger to take control of her, transforming her into her nirik form and using her newfound power to attack the creature. As for Midnight, she proceeded with an aerial assault on the Basilisk.

Things were going well for the group of creatures for a while. Luster and Astral continued their assault with their magic, dodging any incoming attacks that the Basilisk had in store for them. With its frustration mounting, the Basilisk let our a roar that pierced and echoed throughout the sky, stopping Luster and her friends in their tracks as they covered their ears, trying to muffle out the loud, piercing sound.

The Basilisk took advantage of the situation and used its tail once again to knock down everyone at the same time, succeeding in doing so. It started to use the magic that Luster and Astral were using to attack it and tried to cast a poisoning spell on the fallen friends before moving on.

Luster looked around at her friends and then towards the Elements of Harmony. She started to feel tears forming in her eyes and wondered why they would not work.

"What are we doing wrong?" She said, wiping away some tears.

She felt a presence behind her and looked towards them. She saw Summer and Midnight looking at her, still with determined looks on their faces. Summer, back in her kirin form, reached out and helped Luster up.

"I don't understand," Luster stated, "how are you both still okay after failing so quickly?"

"We stand together as one," Midnight replied, "and we fall together as one."

"We're friends, Luster," added Summer, "kind, true friends. When we stand together, nothing can defeat us."

"Creature got lucky shot," Grutar claimed, "Grutar make creature pay for hurting friends!"

"I've seen some things in my life," said Orange, "but this, when we succeed, will be one of the happier moments of it."

Astral felt touched, "I've never seen such a diverse group of creatures act this friendly towards one another. It makes me feel happy to know that there is such a kindness in this world."

Luster smiled softly, wiping away her tears again, "And I've never seen a pony like you be so generous as to offer to help us out. We only just met, but you truly are one selfless pony."

As if on cue, Luster and all of her friends began to glow. The glows were the same as the Elements of Harmony and, without any aid, one element flew towards one creature. Once the element was near a creature, a bright light had engulfed each of them, replacing the shard with a necklace around each of their necks. Luster, feeling slightly dazed, rubbed her eyes and noticed the necklaces on each of her friends.

"Whoa," she gasped, "that's incredible."

Each of Luster's friends looked down and noticed their necklace. They looked between one another and wondered what they were, looking back to Luster for her answer.

"Are these-?" Orange asked before stopping. He found that finding the right words was hard.

"They're the Elements of Harmony," answered Luster, "Princess Twilight told me they used to look like these."

"Okay," Astral butted in, "cool moment aside, we have a Basilisk to defeat."

"But how do we do it?" Midnight questioned.

"Together," Luster insisted, "I think we have to do this together."

Traveling together to meet with the Basilisk, Luster and the others stopped just outside the main portion of the town, looking up at the creature. The Basilisk glanced down and locked eye contact with each creature, expecting them to fall back down and feel the venomous magic that it had. When Luster and her friends failed to fall back down, the Basilisk roared again, angered by the unsuccessful venomous magic. Luster noticed this and smirked.

"Looks like we finally evened the playing field," she chuckled, reaching out to her friends, "let's do this while we have the opportunity!"

With a magical sensation filling their bodies, Luster felt herself be lifted up off the ground. She looked to her friends and noticed something similar happening to them. She nodded, then reached out for Orange's hoof and Summer's hoof.

"You guys trust me?" She asked them.

They nodded in response, following Luster's lead and reaching out for the creature next to them. When they were all joined together, Luster felt the magic in her body peak, flashing her eyes a very bright white color. She had trouble containing it and blinked her eyes, unleashing a blinding white light in the nearby area, forcing the Basilisk backwards and draining it of its power. Luster smirked, then felt the magic inside of her strengthen and blast the Basilisk away.

_Friendship is magic, I suppose, _she thought to herself as the blinding light was joined by a loud ringing sound.

* * *

When the light finally disappeared, Luster found herself on the ground once more with her friends. She felt seriously dazed by the rush of magic that ran through her body and wondered what had happened. All she could remember was seeing the blinding light and nothing else. She looked around to her friends and noticed them struggling to get up.

"What happened?" Midnight asked.

"An impressive feat has happened," somepony else said.

The group of friends looked to where the voice had come from and noticed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing nearby. The two princesses approached the group and spotted each necklace that they were wearing. They then noticed the cutie marks of Luster, Orange, and Astral glow once more.

"I guess that settles that," Princess Celestia smiled, looking to her younger sister, "wouldn't you say so, Luna?"

"I couldn't agree more, sister," Princess Luna replied.

Astral noticed her cutie mark glowing again, "I guess that explains that? Maybe? I have a lot of questions about this."

"We'll explain things to you later," promised Princess Celestia, pointing to the necklaces, "it appears that you've managed to figure out how to use them after all."

Luster blushed slightly, "It was nothing honestly. I'm just happy I had my friends along with me while I did this."

"And that's what I like to hear," another pony said.

Luster looked to this new pony and saw that it was Princess Twilight. Overcome with excitement, Luster ran over towards her mentor and embraced her with a hug. She felt very proud with what she and her friends had just accomplished and thought that Twilight felt the same with her.

"See what friendship can do to Equestria?" Princess Twilight smirked, winking at Luster.

Luster blushed again, "I guess it is important."

"When creatures make friends with one another," Princess Twilight explained, "it makes Equestria stronger and a more safer place. The more creatures learn about friendship, the better the world will become in the long run."

"This sounds familiar," Princess Celestia giggled, nudging Princess Twilight slightly, "almost like you had a good mentor."

"Friendship is a lifelong journey," Princess Twilight insisted, "and we all have to start somewhere." She looked towards Princess Celestia, "Even if we have to be pushed into it, it is all for the better in the long run."

"Agreed," nodded Princess Celestia.

"How did you know I'd be able to do this, Princess?" Luster wondered.

Princess Twilight shook her head, "I didn't, Luster, and I think Princess Celestia can say the same for me when I was once in your hooves. We don't know everything, but our experiences have aided and guided us into feeling when something spectacular might happen. Celestia once told me she knew of a special group of ponies prior to when I moved to Ponyville. Needless to say, I had the same feeling about your friends."

"Even me, Your Highness?" Astral asked.

Princess Twilight smiled, "I knew you traveled across Equestria with your studies, so when this started unfolding, I had a good feeling about your generosity. You just proved me right. Besides, I had a feeling that your personality would fit extremely well with each of theirs."

Astral blushed and hid behind her mane slightly, pulling her beanie down a bit, "Th-thank you, P-Princess."

Luster looked around once more at the necklaces, then fixated her views back on Princess Twilight, "And I suppose these will have to go back where we found them?"

Again, Princess Twilight shook her head, "Not now, Luster. We never know when they might be needed again. I am trusting you to oversee these elements now, just like Princess Celestia trusted me long ago. Just don't cast any spells that alter them in any way, okay?"

Princess Celestia giggled to herself, prompting a look from everypony. She looked back at Princess Twilight, then at the others.

"It certainly has been a long while since something like this has happened," she mentioned.

"It was nice to get some action again," Princess Luna added, "sometimes retirement can get a tad boring."

"You said it sister!" Discord shouted, appearing from behind a nearby tree before snapping himself a pair of sunglasses and a straw hat.

Luster rolled her eyes playfully, then looked back towards Princess Twilight, "What do we do now?"

"I want you to keep studying friendship, Luster," Princess Twilight advised, "and please, do report to me weekly with what you've learned. They will definitely help out with your studies." She winked at Princess Celestia, who winked back.

"Thank you, Princess," Luster smiled, feeling her eyes form some more tears, "for your help and wisdom."

"I only guided you, Luster," Princess Twilight exclaimed, "what you do is of your own accord. I'm just here for advice if you need it."

Tears in her eyes now, Luster hugged her group of friends and smiled happily. "And it's all thanks to you all."

* * *

A week later, Luster found herself inside her room back home in Ponyville. She had just finished reading another book of hers and decided to write to Princess Twilight as she promised. She grabbed a paper, quill, and some ink and started to write.

"_Dear Princess Twilight,_" she began writing, "_I'm still amazed that my friends and I managed to defeat the Basilisk using the Elements of Harmony. To be honest, I'm surprised that we were chosen to wield them at all. Nonetheless, I still have a lot to learn about this whole friendship thing._

"_I'm actually preparing to meet up with Astral Flare, Summer Breeze, and Grutar later today to help Orange plan a surprise party for Midnight. Her birthday is coming up shortly and we felt that it would be a good idea to surprise her with a party. I can't wait to tell you how everything went and how Midnight reacted when all of it does happen._

"_I also can't wait to see what other adventures my friends and I will experience next. It was fun to do something heroic but it felt even better to know that my friends were by my side the entire time, fighting alongside with me. I imagine that it was something similar when you and your friends did this long ago and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us all._

"_Needless to say, I think I'm going to have fun exploring and studying more about friendship than prior. Thank you again for talking me into giving it a try and showing me where it all started for you. I don't know what I would be doing had you not shown me the way._

"_Oh, I gotta get going! We gotta beat Midnight to Sugar Cube Corner if we want to plan the surprise party. It was fun writing to you today. Your faithful student, Luster Dawn._"

Rolling up the scroll, Luster placed it in the small capsule that Princess Twilight had gifted her and pushed a button, sending the letter to her immediately. She grabbed a pad of paper and a few quills, making her way downstairs and heading out to Sugar Cube Corner, smiling along the way.

_Thank you for showing me the start of the true path, _Luster thought to herself as she happily trotted along the road.


End file.
